Utility grade wind turbines (i.e., wind turbines designed to provide electrical power to a utility grid) can have large rotors (e.g., 30 or more meters in diameter). Asymmetric loading across these rotors occurs due to vertical and horizontal wind shears, yaw misalignment and turbulence. These asymmetric loads contribute to extreme loads, and the quantity of fatigue cycles on the rotor blades and other wind turbine components.
Various techniques have been developed to reduce fatigue caused by asymmetric loading of rotors. For example, in “Reduction of Fatigue Loads on Wind Energy Converters by Advanced Control Methods” by P. Caselitz, et al., European Wind Energy Conference, October 1997, Dublin Castle, Ireland, a technique for active damping of tower oscillations is disclosed. However, the techniques of Caselitz, et al. are based on tilt and yaw of the tower, which provides only general information about the loads on individual wind turbine components.